Campus Ballroom was the place to dance in Bushkill

I came across a reference to the Campus Ballroom while researching family genealogy, but I can't find any additional information about the place. Can you give me a clue?

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poconorecord.com

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Posted Feb. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Posted Feb. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM

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I came across a reference to the Campus Ballroom while researching family genealogy, but I can't find any additional information about the place. Can you give me a clue?

V.K., East Stroudsburg

Built in the early 1950s by Captain Auten, the Campus Ballroom, along Route 209 in Bushkill, was a local nightspot with an ample dance floor.

For the ballroom's grand opening on June 22, 1951, dance music and entertainment was provided by Joe Venuto, "master of the vibrasharp," and his well-known Long Island Orchestra; Birdie Winters, Broadway's Little Miss Dynamite; Buster Mack, "suave" New York and Miami entertainer; and Harold Norman "on the piano," according to an advertisement in The Daily Record.

A special pre-opening dinner was served in the nearby Campus Petunia Restaurant. Although the cost of dinner was $2.75 per person, admission to the ballroom was free.

Auten later converted the ballroom to a summer stock theater. In 1978, the building, which was being used as a flea market, was destroyed by fire.

On Feb. 22, 2011, a question was answered in "Write to Know" about a 1953 fire at Daviduke's Hotel in Marshalls Creek. It was submitted by S.D., Youngstown, Ohio, (who was staying at the hotel at the time of the fire).

I, too, stayed at that hotel and have recently become interested in locating others who were there.

J.R., Weatogue, Conn.

The 1953 fire, which destroyed the hotel's third floor, started after lightning struck the one-time summer resort. Should former guests of Daviduke's want to share their experiences with J.R., whether they were staying at the hotel at the time of the fire or not, please contact Write to Know.

The actor who plays Richard Castle on the television show "Castle" looks familiar. Has he appeared in other TV shows? Could you also print his mailing address? I'm a big fan.

E.S., Stroudsburg

You may recognize Canadian actor Nathan Fillion from his part as Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds in the science-fiction television series "Firefly" (2002-2003). He also appeared in quite a few TV series, including "Desperate Housewives," and from 1994 to 2007 was in the daytime drama "One Life to Live."